What happens to money that was confiscated from drug busts?

TV criminal crime dramas love a good drug bust. In almost every episode, detective warehouses ponder, do doors and discover the Duffel bags filled with cocaine stones and cash stacks. The busts are dramatic. The scenes are loud. But there is one thing that almost never shows: What actually happens after all the money and the narcotics are pulled away.

In the real world, drug attacks are far more complicated than on the screen. The logistics, legality and the financial consequences of a large bust could fill its own season itself – and in a way too. Here is what really happens to the money and drugs that have been confiscated in raids – and why it is more important than they might think.

Seizure is only the beginning

If the law enforcement confiscates cash, drugs, cars or other property in a drug -related case, these assets do not immediately go to the government. First, everything is kept as evidence. If the crime is serious or the prosecutors predict appeals, evidence can be retained for up to seven years.

If money or property has nothing to do with the crime, it is usually returned to the rightful owner. But to determine that this can include a separate attempt. This process, known as criminal decay, only applies if the suspect is officially charged for crime. If you are convicted, the government's confiscated assets will be handed over.

In contrast, the police decline in civil law to confiscate property without making formal charges based exclusively on suspicion of criminal activities. Civil decay has become one of the most controversial instruments in modern police work. Critics call it legalized theft, especially if innocent people have difficulty regaining their ownership through costly right -wing struggles.

What happens to the drugs?

Connected medication are usually locked away in a evidence that is carefully pursued by weight to prevent manipulation or theft. From there they can be destroyed or implemented for official use. Some are used to train dogs with drug schnitzel or to help the officials to identify the narcotics from the sight and smell.

In some cases, confiscated drugs are used in undercover operations in which the police staged controlled purchases or staged deals to reduce larger networks of human trade. These are high risks, closely regulated efforts and not without controversy.

What happens to the money?

In contrast to drugs, the money is rarely destroyed. If the seizure is legally ruled and bound to criminal activities, the funds are usually handed over to the government or in many cases directly attributed to the law enforcement agency that the bust has made.

The departments can use the money to improve your equipment, to buy surveillance technology, to take training or to buy new vehicles. Some agencies even used these funds to buy devices for military quality to raise questions about surveillance and militarization of the local police.

The proceeds from confiscated assets can also come from the auction of real estate such as cars or houses. These funds often go into what critics call “Slush Fund” – money outside of the normal, publicly approved budget. If this is used transparently, this can be helpful for underfunded departments. If it is abused, serious problems of accountability arise.

A system ripe for abuse?

Followers argue that asset dropping and drug funds represent effective instruments in the fight against organized crime. The opponents argue that the incentives are dangerously wrong: police stations benefit directly from the use of the property of people and create a system that is susceptible to abuse.

Ultimately, the fate of the confiscated drug money depends on where it was confiscated, who has made the arrest and how local and federal laws are used. Ask ten departments on how to deal with confiscated assets and you may receive ten different answers.

It's chaotic. It's cloudy. And it may not be for quick television. But if you want to understand the whole story of a drug bust, follow the money, not just the headlines.

Examples of extremely large banking

205.6 million US dollars -Zhenli Ye Gon (Mexico -Stadt, 2007)

This amazing sum was still considered the largest drug frame confiscation in history and was found in the upscale mansion of the Mexican city of the Chinese businessman Zhenli Ye Gon. The authorities discovered the US currency of 205.6 million US dollars and € 200,000, Mexican pesos of 2 million US dollars and large amounts of other foreign currencies. The money was stacked from floor to the ceiling in a bedroom. Ye Gon was accused of reconciling massive amounts of pseudoephedrine, a meth ingredient, in Mexico through its pharmaceutical company. He later claimed that he was forced to stow the money on behalf of the corrupt officials.

100 million US dollars – “Operation Casablanca” (Los Angeles, 1998)

This common US Mexican operation was aimed at Mexican banks that were suspected of washing drug money for cartels. Over the course of several years, 100 million US dollars of drugs from bank accounts and physical locations in Southern California were confiscated. It remains one of the greatest cases of drug money laundering in the history of US history.

22 million US dollars – Miami Cocain Stash House (2016)

In an attack on a modest-looking house in Miami, federal agents discovered $ 22 million in cash in a secret subject behind a false wall. The money was connected to a large -scale cocaine smuggling. Photos of agents who pull bricks out of the wall became viral.

24 million US dollars -Marijuana -Manschenhandel Ring (Atlanta, 2012)

DEA agent broke a trade network that Marijuana from California sent to Georgia. During a raid in Atlanta, they found $ 24 million in cash in a tractor. The bust was part of a wider takedown, in which dozens of charges and seizures of assets were considered in several countries.

30 million US dollars+ – Jose Treviño Morales (Texas, 2013)

Treviño, the brother of a notorious Zetas cartel leader, was arrested in Texas because he had washed the cartel profit through a quarter of Horse Racing. Federal agents confiscated millions of real estate, vehicles and cash and estimated that over 30 million US dollars were washed through the business. In this case, it was emphasized how cartels use legitim and in US companies to wash illegal profits.